Insurance
by picimadar
Summary: How many times was Robin going to have to sit in this same office, 'evaluating' their everloving superhero insurance policy... and more importantly, how many loopholes could he find before their broker did? A series of oneshots starting in the early days of the Titans time as a team. Rating will not change. Cover image credit @scotty9359
1. Chapter 1

A/N: It's been a while, . Just trying to get back into the swing of things with this little foray into Teen Titans fics. I hope you all enjoy. As always please review and leave me any suggestions or comments, I appreciate it!  
-pici

 **Insurance  
** Chapter 1

Superhero insurance. It sounds ridiculous, right?

Let me tell you this: there's nothing funny about having to be in this office, for the 16th time in 3 weeks, explaining why we're not _intentionally_ running the League and their associated brokerage out of business.

"It was an accident," I said for at least the tenth time this go-round.

"An accident that obliterated the entire lab." Wonder Woman tossed a file in across the table, the papers and pictures flapping and settling in front of my eyes.

Starfire, teeth clenched, eyes and hands alight, in the epicenter of a massive explosion. Had it been in any other context, the red of her hair and golden glow of her skin contrasting with the vivid lightshow and billowing smoke cloud would have made a beautiful picture.

I guess it still kinda did…

"Stay with us, Boy Wonder," Superman murmured from my left. He always had to have that knowing smirk, didn't he?

"She did destroy the lab, but it was being run illegally." My mind was already putting together the counterargument. "Dr. Light's handiwork was all over the place."

"We could have used the technology to prosecute him."

Three seconds of my father's- no, Batman's- voice was enough for me to start grinding my teeth. "He had already rigged the building to explode when we infiltrated. It's incredibly unlikely that the self-destruction setup had anywhere near the control or precision that Starfire did when she brought the place down."

" _Control_?" Thankfully my old man had trained me out of the urge to start away from sudden, unexpected movement in my field of vision, even his own hand tersely jabbing at the rest of the pictures. "This took her thirty seconds, Robin. She didn't even bother to check if the explosives were there. You can't possibly be ignorant enough to believe that she can control-"

"She is _not_ a _threat_." I felt the churning, heavy feeling of fear in my stomach, the words erupting from my mouth before I even thought of where they would lead. "She doesn't… She wouldn't-"

"Robin." While my mask might hide how I couldn't meet anyone's eyes, there was no way it hid the angry red flush I always got. Wonder Woman waited until I acknowledged her with a sigh. "Try to remember this isn't personal. It is our job here to assess the any potential risks for all the heroes associated with the League. Your team-"

"They are not a team." Batman spoke again and thankfully my mask hid the fury I knew was on my face. "Frankly, all of this flies in the face of how you want us to spend _millions_ on this 'tower'," Batman continued, complete with air quotes. "It's ridiculous enough to think your enemies won't just bomb it to the ground on the second day, and now you want us to think this _alien_ won't just wake up on the wrong side of the bed and detonate the place herself?"

"Her bed doesn't have sides," I quipped, my natural defenses working on Wonder Woman and Superman but leaving my father and mentor as stoic and immovable as ever.

I normally tried really, really hard to keep this part of my brain under wraps, this part that just wants to find something, anything, and tear it apart. I guess I wasn't trying so hard this time. "We don't want to give Jump the impression we'll always be in hiding from what we're fighting. I know that must be mind-boggling for someone who spends his time lurking around alone in the dark, but my _team_ chose this. Together."

The blood rushing through my ears and the intensity of the stare-down Batman and I were in completely distracted me from the others in the room. A few seconds passed before a relieving and familiar chime sounded from my utility belt.

"What is it, Starfire?" I asked. I needed to sound less worried. She was just a teammate, she could handle herself, she was okay, she could be trusted…

"Robin, I am very sorry," she said mournfully, her image on my communicator looking anywhere but back at me. "I am afraid I have done something… _bad_."

Three sets of eyes looked at me as I willed myself not to look back. "What do you mean, Starfire? What happened?" What bad could she possibly have done? Raven was supposed to be right there with her!

"Raven and I went to the mall of shopping," she said, huffing a sigh, "and when we had completed the requisite perusal of stores and acquisition of appropriate clothing and sustenance, there was a… there were many people outside of the building."

"A _crowd_ , Starfire," I reflexively murmured.

"A crowd, yes." Starfire paused for a moment, looking at me and then away again. Did she sniffle? Had she been crying?" "Raven and I attempted to find passage through but these people were very insistent on asking us so many questions-"

"We talked about that, Starfire. You're just supposed to ignore them, remember?" Please, God, let her have just ignored them, today of all days…

"They were asking questions about what had occurred at the laboratory of Dr. Light." Her voice wavered. "They were asking if they could trust us, if we were safe…. Many were shouting such _horrible_ things, Robin, telling me that I should go back to the place I come from, that I do not do the belonging here and-"

"Starfire," I interrupted gently. "People are just trying to understand-"

"No," she insisted, her red hair falling, covering her face. "One of them attempted to strike me and another accosted poor Raven and so I- I shoved him."

I looked up slightly and saw all three of the Justice Leaguers staring with rapt attention. _Crap_.

"I am afraid that choosing to stay here was a mistake. I do not wish to make this more difficult for you and Raven and Beast Boy and Cyborg, and I have already caused so many problems- oh!" Her face snapped back up to the computer screen again, her hands clasped over her mouth. "Oh, you are already busy doing the cleaning up of my mess and I have bothered you… "

"You're not bothering me, Starfire." She didn't deserve this, and she sure as hell didn't deserve being talked to like that… "Look just… don't do anything until I get back to the safehouse, okay?" She nodded, sheepish. "And Star? Just… don't worry about those people for now. They just don't know you like I-" I caught myself just in time thanks for Superman's stupid smirk in the corner of my eye. "-like we do, and we want you to stay."

Seeing her smile felt like the first day of summer vacation always used to. I caught myself starting to smile back and slammed a lid on that Pandora's Box of thoughts. "Go find Raven and let her know I'll be back soon, alright?"

She nodded again, her anxiety apparently vanishing already. "Until then, Robin."

I clipped the communicator back to my belt and closed the folder. The hollow silence of the room had _just_ started being uncomfortable when Superman spoke.

"I think we need to give Robin and team more credit." Batman's sigh was barely audible, but enough for Superman to give him a warning glance. "When we started heroing we were older than they are now. We had the benefit of experience, and of resources…. And the benefit of deliberately _choosing_ this life. Can Raven or Beast Boy or Starfire say the same? They have fallen into this- some more literally than others, and they're still choosing to stay and fight."

I was going to owe this man at _least_ fifteen beers. You know, when I'm finally legal.

"I think it would be short-sighted to rescind funding from Robin's _team_ ," he enunciated pointedly. "While some of the members may be… a mystery to us, are we not better off helping them to grow as heroes than just setting them loose and hoping it turns out?"

Make that twenty beers.

"So we just chalk all this up to 'growing pains'?" Wonder Woman's brow arched. "I'm sure our broker's going to love that."

"Well, what else would you call it?" Batman asked, his chair scraping the floor. "Considering they are a group of _children_ , I'd say it's right on the money." In a flurry of cape, he took off out the door.

Nice seeing you too?

"So, why don't we review this again later… I have a feeling you may unfortunately be back after what happened with Starfire and Raven today anyway." Wonder Woman shook my hand as I nodded. "And try to teach her a little more about the _fragility_ of this world, maybe?"

I half-smiled, nodding again. Superman and I were all that remained in the little office at Mt. Justice. He reached his hand out to me, his little smirks replaced by a genuine smile. "I want you to know even if he'll never admit it… he believes in you, Robin." I rolled my eyes and stepped to leave but felt my arm and shoulder wrenched back by Superman's solid grip on my hand. "And I believe in you, too."

I nodded sharply, my chest filling with a warm mix of pride and determination. We could do this- my _team_ could do this. We were young, but we were heroes- and we wanted to be.

"One more thing, Robin," he chuckled, as I reached the door. "Just how well do you know what Starfire's bed looks like?"

I've never power-walked so fast in my life.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you to everyone who's favourited/followed this story, and a special thanks to Ninetailsjinx for your review! I am looking forward to writing several more chapters of this- with one-shots I tend to just keep going until I run out of ideas, so if you have one you'd like to see me write and add in, message me!  
-pici

 **Insurance**  
Chapter 2

"And you've prepared your team for all of this?" Black Canary walked alongside me, carrying a tablet and a stack of folders.

I dragged a hand through my hair- a habit I had been informed _multiple times_ by Beast Boy and Cyborg would be the cause of my premature balding.

Three months we'd been a team, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to beat them down physically or at Super Monkey Master III.

"I've done what I can… they'll all be okay as long as they stay focused, but I…" We turned a corner and I felt myself clam up as Batman walked by us, giving me the classic 'here's a nod to acknowledge your existence' treatment.

"You're worried about Starfire." The statement was bang on the money, as usual. The elevator we waited for whisked us down below the surface of Mt. Justice. "Do you think she'll have problems?"

"I'm worried that she'll get confused, or say something that doesn't translate and get misunderstood." Play it cool, Robin. "She's already proven she wants to learn and she's been learning to read and write… she's _trying_ , she just isn't _there_ yet."

The elevator dinged. "You don't need to worry," the blonde woman assured. "M'Gann may have come to Earth with a little more information but if we could make sure she was treated fairly, I'm sure we'll find a way for Starfire as well." We rounded one last corner and I saw the rest of my team, sans Cyborg, waving to me from some seats against the hallway wall.

"Robin," Black Canary whispered, putting a hand on my shoulder. "You can relax; nobody is out to 'get' any of your teammates, including Starfire. No one wants to get rid of her. This is all just standard procedure, you remember." She smiled and ushered me over to my seat with my team. Nodding to me one last time Black Canary entered the office, the open door letting Cyborg and J'onn's quiet speech filter into the hall.

"Hey, Robin!" Beast Boy enthused, giving me a double thumbs up. "Pretty wicked to be in here, right? It's like the inner sanctum or something!"

Raven murmured behind the pages of a book. "That would imply that you should respect the sanctity with silence."

"That is how you honor an important place? Oh, no…. I am afraid I have been doing some great disrespect to the Security office at the mall of shopping…"

"What do you even talk to those guys about anyway?"

Starfire clasped her hands together in excitement and sat forward to look past me at Beast Boy, "Oh, they have such _wondrous_ stories…."

* * *

"So, the vast majority of your physical implants have been designed by you?"

"That's right!" Cyborg drawled, proudly using one cybernetic hand to slap his opposite bicep. "I get a real kick outta mechanical engineering and design. I'm actually working on designs for a utility vehicle for the Titans."

Both the adults nodded, impressed. "That makes our job here quite a bit easier. You must have pretty intimate understanding of how all these different additions function."

"Righto, ain't no _way_ I'm putting anything on or in my body that I don't know up, down, backwards and forwards beforehand."

More nods from his assessors made Cyborg smile back while they wrote some notes.

J'onn J'onzz paused for a moment, clearly evaluating what he was about to say. "Now, Cyborg," he began, putting down his tablet, "I do have one more… sensitive question to ask you before we finish here."

"Sure, sure, lay it on me."

"We understand that you received your physical implants due to an accident- one that unfortunately claimed your mother's life as well." Cyborg froze. "I do not mean to cause you any distress, so please feel free to interrupt me if such a thing happens, but it does not appear that you sought any sort of counseling or guidance following what I can only imagine was a very traumatic experience."

A deep breath prompted by his internal computer returned Cyborg to the conversation.

J'onn took a brief look at Black Canary before she continued. "We aren't pressuring you or even asking you to consider speaking to someone about what happened, but we want to let you know that if you ever _do_ want to talk, anyone from the League would be happy to listen."

Cyborg sat for one more moment, willing some nightmarish past back to where it came from. "Yeah," he finally said, sitting up and plastering on a smile. "Yeah, I really appreciate the offer, but I'm doing pretty alright so…. But ya know, if I do need anything, you'll be on my speed dial." He lifted up the communication hub on his arm and pointed to complete the joke.

"Alright, then, it looks like we're finished here," Black Canary closed, smiling. "It's been great getting to speak with you, Cyborg. I want to see the blueprints for this car of yours soon!"

Cyborg made his usual promises, shook their hands, and stepped out into the hallway.

"… And so this small female human ate over 10 pieces of metallic currency! Can you believe such a thing?!"

Cyborg smiled. If anything could make him better, it'd be Starfire talking about her day.

* * *

"Take a seat, Beast Boy," Black Canary welcomed, gesturing to the plush armchair across from where she and J'onn sat. "It's a pleasure to get to speak with you today."

"The pleasure is all mine," the green teenager drawled, reaching for her hand and pursing his lips. The older heroine's reflexes were much too fast, however, and she cocked one brow toward J'onn.

"Anyway, we just had a few questions to ask, for the League's information and insurance purposes. None of this information is available to anyone outside of League Members, and even then they'll require permission to access it-"

"Yeah, I'm not too worried about all that," Beast Boy interrupted, scooting to rest his feet on the coffee table between them. "I mean, I had my whole life monitored before this… anything less than that is pretty much paradise!"

"You mean when you were a member of the Doom Patrol," J'onn elaborated, typing on his tablet.

"You betcha! I'm excited to be part of something new, though, or at least part of a team that doesn't treat me like I'm their new baby." The shapeshifter was now essentially laying in the chair, his legs stretched far over onto the table. "Although, having Robin around _is_ pretty much like having another dad…."

"Do you find that his leadership is effective?" Black Canary asked, curious.

Beast Boy sat back up, putting his hands on his knees. "He's really good when we're fighting down some bad guys," he started, "but I mean… dude's gotta lighten up, you know? Sometimes Cyborg and I just gotta say, y'know, 'dude, just come play some Super Monkey Master with us and chill out'."

The blonde woman chuckled and smiled. "Does that work?"

Beast Boy shrugged, throwing his legs over one footrest and resting his neck on the other. "Every once in a while, if he's not being all 'broody Bat-kid' on us," he said, pointing fingers by his temples to imitate Robin's mentor. "But mostly we just make Starfire ask."

Both the Leaguers paused and looked up from their tablets. "Oh, yeah?" Black Canary asked carefully, "why's that?"

The teenager's laugh made all of them smile. "'Cause he's totally got it bad for her and unless he's feeling really nasty, he'll do whatever she wants."

The older adults' furious typing brought Beast Boy back to reality. "But I mean only if it's reasonable! After all, he's our leader, so he wouldn't do anything that'd be bad for the team or change how much we work for Jump City!"

The adults looked up at him, prompting him to continue, and Beast Boy sighed. "Look... you know how they say when you're dedicated and involved with something like this, that you need someone to save you from yourself?" A pregnant pause filled the room. "Well…. That's what Rob and Starfire do for each other."

* * *

"And so you grew up on Azarath."

"Yes."

"... and how was that?"

"Fine. There was a lot of chanting."

Black Canary sighed for the fourth time. "And so other than the fact that your father is indeed Trigon, we should have no concerns about the control over our abilities or their effects."

"My genealogy is none of your concern. _If_ it ever becomes relevant, which is unlikely, you'll know."

"… So how would you evaluate Robin's leadership?"

"Good."

Black Canary opened her mouth to reply when Martian Manhunter placed a hand on her wrist. "Raven, tell us more about the dynamics of the group."

"Beast Boy, Cyborg and Robin are 'bros'. Cyborg and Starfire are brother and sister. Starfire and Beast Boy are playmates. Beast Boy and I are oil and water. Cyborg and I are friends. Starfire and I are... something."

J'onn nodded approval to his workmate. "And Robin and Starfire?"

Had her cowl not obscured her face they would have noted a tiny smile. "I'm afraid there are just no words for that."

* * *

"… and _then_ , the woman runs and does the slamming of her body into this 'Santa Claus' and-

"-Your turn, Star." Her golden skin was warm even under the touch of my Kevlar glove as I took her shoulder and gently nudged her. She smiled at me for a moment before I watched it fade; she had spotted Black Canary and looked back at me before standing and following after the Leaguer.

"You think she'll be okay?" Cyborg asked, watching her with me.

"She has to be."

* * *

Starfire crossed her legs, then uncrossed them, then crossed them to the other side as she toyed with the edge of her purple skirt and waited for the Martian male and the human female to begin speaking.

Neither did, and she felt the anxiety in her lower 3 stomachs begin to worsen.

"It truly was an accident," she finally blurted, causing both to stop their typing and look up at her. "Um, I…. Had I known it would increase your difficulty in pursuing justice against the Doctor of Light I would have attempted to diffuse the explosives in an alternative manner."

Black Canary gave J'onn an interested glance before stowing her tablet and giving the young Tamaranean her full attention. "So, you were aware that the laboratory was rigged to explode?"

Starfire nodded vigorously. "I could smell the chemical materials required for such an explosion when the mechanism for self-destruction was activated. It is why I demanded that my other friends depart from the premises; an explosion of that magnitude would surely have…." She had pulled her long hair over her shoulder and was playing with it absently.

Black Canary rapidly typed a few notes. "Why did you deliberately set off the explosives when you knew that they were already going to explode?"

"The explosives were… They were…." The girl huffed in frustration, throwing her hair back over her shoulder as she began to speak rapid and fluid Martian. J'onn sat up straighter. "I am familiar with the major Martian dialects but I fear I cannot adequately explain myself in any of the human languages I have assimilated." She winced at Black Canary. "I apologize… I am trying-"

"It's okay, Starfire. Speak to J'onn. He can use his telepathy to translate for us."

"Or from Tamaranean, if that is easiest to you."

J'onn had just enough of a psychic tap on the girl to feel her relief and excitement at the opportunity. "Yes please," she began, and immediately fell into her own mother tongue.

 _Entry 005- RE: TEEN TITANS OVERVIEW INSURANCE_

 _T04- STARFIRE alias KORIAND'R, PRINCESS OF TAMARAN (VEGA)_

RE: INCIDENT 16982, DR. LIGHT (0129) v. TEEN TITANS. JUMP CITY, CALIFORNIA.

 _SUBJECT VOLUNTEERED INFORMATION DURING INTERVIEW REGARDING A SECONDARY TOPIC. SUBJECT EXPRESSED DIFFICULTY COMMUNICATING MORE COMPLEX IDEAS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE (HER PURPORTED 1,231_ _ST_ _LANGUAGE). SUBJECT CONSENTS TO TAP BY MARTIAN MANHUNTER (JL 07) TO CONNECT WITH JL 07 AND BLACK CANARY (JL 23) AT THIS TIME._

 _T04 ENGAGED IN FIREFIGHT WITH ADVERSARY DR. LIGHT. DR. LIGHT FLED THE SCENE, LEAVING AUTOMATED ROBOTS TO FIGHT IN HIS PLACE. T02, T03 AND T05 DEPARTED IN PURSUIT OF DR. LIGHT._

 _ACCORDING TO T04 THERE WAS A BRIEF FIGHT VS. AUTOMATONS BEFORE SHE URGED T01 TO LEAVE THE LABORATORY PREMISES. T04 IDENTIFIED THE CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS USED TO CREATE THE INCENDIARY DEVICES REQUIRED TO DETONATE THE FACILITY. T04 EXPRESSED THAT DUE TO FOREKNOWLEDGE OF THESE COMPOUNDS, SHE DELIBERATELY DETONATED THEM USING CONCENTRATED SOLAR ENERGY, CONTROLLING THE BURST AND PREVENTING DAMAGE TO SURROUNDING INFRASTRUCTURE._

 _JL07, HAVING HEARD AND OBSERVED THIS INFORMATION THROUGH A LINK, DETERMINES THIS ACCOUNT TO BE ACCURATE._

 _RE: ASSESSMENT 01, T04 STARFIRE_

 _LINK WAS NOT TERMINATED PRIOR TO INITIATION OF ASSESSMENT. IN REGARDS TO STANDARDIZED QUESTIONNARE, T02 REFUSED TO ANSWER QUESTIONS 10-15, 20-25, AND 27. WHEN ASKED THE REASON FOR THIS REFUSAL, T04 RESPONDED SHE DID NOT 'WISH TO ENGAGE IN REMINISCENCE OF THE PAST'._

 _PROBABLE HISTORY RE: USE IN SLAVE TRADE, ABUSE, PHYSICAL ASSAULT, SEXUAL ASSAULT?, EXPERIMENTATION, KNOWN ESCAPEE OF CITADEL AND PSION CONTROL._

 _LINK TERMINATED UPON T04 BROADCASTING PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. JL23 TEMPORARILY EMOTIONALLY INCAPACITATED. IT IS BELIEVED THIS ACTION WAS UNINTENTIONAL._

 _WHEN ASKED TO ELABORATE ON TEAM DYNAMICS, T04 STATES (paraphrased):_

" _EACH OF US HAS A ROLE TO FILL ON OUR TEAM-not to exclude others, or limit ourselves, but we have become certain people._

 _T02 (see: BEAST BOY) is the 'team comedian', able to uplift and lighten any situation for all team members- contrasting with T04's previous assertion that he does not._

 _T04 expresses certain affections toward T03 (see: RAVEN), as T03 has comforted T04 during episodes of night terrors and other heavily emotional experiences (see RE: T04, symptoms of PTSD)."_

 _T05 (see: CYBORG) has formed a strong friendship with T02, despite major disagreements on issues of personal values, and he shows propensity and great technical ability with regards to the security and automation systems the Tower employs. T04 greatly admires many traits of T05._

 _T04 enthused at length regarding T01's leadership abilities, proficiency in battling and detaining criminals, and ability to detect and predict the actions of villains and criminals. When asked to elaborate on her personal relationship with T01, T04 became notably less forthcoming, stating that they are teammates and she considers him a friend._

"Thank you for cooperating with us, Starfire," Black Canary said, putting the final notes on her documents. "This information will be very helpful to us."

"You are welcome." Starfire stood and brushed a wrinkle out of her skirt. "I am… I am sorry-"

"There is no need to apologise," J'onn interrupted. "You have not done anything wrong." He stood and pressed his right fist against his chest, above his heart. Starfire's frown faded as she returned her native planet's salute, bowed slightly to Black Canary, and headed out of the office.

J'onn paused voicing his thought as he saw Black Canary's finger pressed to her lips.

"Oh, Robin!" Starfire exclaimed as her teammate opened the door for her, ushering her out with one hand at the small of her back. "I am afraid I must request further assistance from you and Cyborg. I have found another 'gap of knowledge' in English vocabulary that I must learn."

The two Leaguers watched Robin smile carefully, patting Starfire on the shoulder. "That's alright, Star. We've got all the time in the world for that."

The door slowly slid closed behind the teenagers as J'onn once again tried to speak. "Do you think-"

"We shouldn't tell Batman." Black Canary smiled and shook her head.

"Not yet, at least."


End file.
